Tree sale rooted in Battle Ground

BATTLE GROUND – Twelve thousand bare root and potted seedlings were for sale on March 21, at the Clark County Farm Forestry Association Annual Public Tree Sale in Battle Ground.

The annual event is held on the third or fourth weekend in March and serves as a fundraiser for the Clark County Farm Forestry Association, which represents small timberland owners and family tree farms in the area. The sale raised around $10,000 this year, which will fund forestry related education in Clark County.

CCFFA funds a scholarship in a forest-related field at Clark College, sponsors forestry education opportunities for local schools, and has provided funding for Pomeroy Living History Farm in Yacolt, the North Clark Museum in Amboy and the Amboy Logging Show.

Jared Larwick, chairman of the Public Tree Sale for CCFFA, said tree sale buyers are usually evenly divided between tree farmers and residential gardeners. Nineteen varieties of trees were available on March 21 for prices ranging from $1 to $4.

Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar are the biggest sellers to tree farmers, but many urban gardeners select smaller and more ornamental plants like Salal, Oregon Grape, Red Flowering Currant and Red Osier Dogwood, according to Larwick. Seedling prices are kept low in an effort to encourage local reforestation and tree planting, part of the organization’s mission.

Mike Rotschy, of Amboy, was helping shoppers at the sale. Rotschy is a CCFFA member and a fourth generation tree farmer, following a tradition started by his great grandfather, who homesteaded land in the Yale Valley area when he emigrated from Switzerland in 1890.

“Back then everyone was cutting down trees to grow other crops,” said Rotschy. “My grandfather understood the value of wood. He loved the trees.”

Rotschy, a past President of CCFFA, also recalls his father helping with the organization’s public tree sale 45 years ago.

No one quite remembers when the first tree sale was held, but the consensus seems to be sometime around the late 1950s. There are no founding members still active in the organization, but there are plenty of stories.

Jane Revesz, of Yale Valley, recalls that her father, Leon Witter, helped to found the organization around 1953. Witter was a dentist and a tree farmer. Revesz described the dental appointments he booked for fellow tree farmers.

“He would schedule a two-hour appointment,” she said, “so they could talk about trees.”

Xander Harness, age 10, is learning about tree planting. Harness was buying 20 seedlings to plant on his family’s property in Washougal, where he is working on a Naturalist badge for his Boy Scout program. CCFFA volunteer Kyle McKee walked Harness through the sale tables to help make his selections. CCFFA volunteers were available, with tree list in hand, to assist each shopper with their selections and purchase.

Volunteers with the Master Gardeners program of Washington State University were also on hand to offer advice for seedling buyers. Stephania Potter, a Clark County Master Gardener, said that she fields a wide range of questions during the event. People commonly ask whether a tree can be grown in the shade, if it will be a good choice for a hedge, or whether it will grow well in a wetland. Deer resistance and mature plant height are common concerns, based on the frequency of those questions.

The CCFFA represents over 170 members in Clark County. CCFFA also offers a tree sale for members, where they sold 81,000 seedlings this year. According to Rotschy, CCFFA contracts with a local nursery to grow seedlings for them. Member orders are limited to 5,000 per buyer, unless extra trees are available. That may sound like a lot of trees to plant. Rotschy says a tree farmer can plant up to 1500 trees in a day, with a repetitive shovel, plant, and step in method.

CCFFA is the Clark County chapter of the Washington Farm Forestry Association. More information is available at their website, atwww.wafarmforestry.com.